04/06/2016

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Inside A6 Leisure and Entertainment in Powhatan

Powhatan, Virginia B2 Walters’ adaptability huge for Tigers

Vol. XXIX No. 14

April 6, 2016

Board advertises $50.9 million budget By Laura McFarland News Editor

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OWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors last week voted three-two in favor of advertising a proposed fiscal year 2017 operating budget at $50.9 million, a number reflective of a 90 cent real estate tax the members decided to advertise the week before with the same split vote. County administrator Pat Weiler took a straw poll during the board’s workshop on Monday, March 28 to determine at what amount the supervisors wanted to

advertise the proposed budget in the April 6 issue of the Powhatan Today. The decision had to be made in time to advertise for a public hearing during the board’s meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 18 in the Village Building. The board will adopt the final budget at its meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, May 2. By advertising the $50.9 million, the board is not committing to this budget amount. The board has to advertise the maximum budget that it might approve. It may choose to approve a lower budget amount, but it cannot go over the advertised number. Chairman Bill Melton, who represents

District 4; Angie Cabell, District 3, and Carson Tucker, District 5, approved of advertising the $50.9 million budget. David Williams, District 1, and Larry Nordvig, District 2 were against it. Weiler walked the board through the different funds that make up the operating budget to gauge their approval before having them give her direction on the overall number to advertise for both revenues and expenditures. Although Weiler went through the individual budgets first, they were all leading up to deciding whether the board wanted to advertise the budget of $50,915,304.

This amount was almost $1.56 million more than the county administrator’s originally proposed budget, which totaled $49,356,312. The amount was reflective of using the figures for a 90 cent tax rate, which the board had already voted three-two in favor of advertising instead of an 85 cent tax rate. It also showed a reduction of $11,008 that the county had expected may come from the state for the public library. When reviewing the expenditures, Weiler pointed out that the entire $1.56 million was slated for debt service and see BUDGET page 9A

Tools helping firefighters save lives By Laura McFarland News Editor

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Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19

OWHATAN – The men and women who respond out of Powhatan Volunteer Fire Department’s Company 1 have made working motor vehicle accidents safer and quicker with the purchase of battery-operated extrication tools. Using donations from the public, fundraisers and Company 1’s annual fund drive, the volunteer firefighters purchased equipment that most of the time will be used on motor vehicle accidents and have already been putting them into use in early 2016, Brenda Breon, a firefighter at the station, said. The company pur-

chased a new kit to better stabilize vehicles in precarious positions and three eDraulic extrication tools that are much more portable, and thus more versatile, than the equipment the firefighters were using before, she said. The stabilizing kit cost $6,804, while the extrication tools and accessories totaled $26,772. “We want to thank the community for the donations that made it possible to really modernize us and bring us up to the future. It is making it safer for us to work and it is making it safer and quicker for the people we go out and help,” Breon said. The extrication tools are still hydraulic but self contained and operate off of a battery, Carroll Smith, Compa-

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Issue of proffers splits board of supervisors By Laura McFarland News Editor

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

Company 1 volunteer firefighters Joe Shupp, left, Damon Bradbury, and district chief Carroll Smith show off the station’s eDraulic tools, which help with vehicle accidents.

ny 1 district chief, said. The old tools operated off of a generator with a hydraulic pump, which meant lines running to

the tools at the accident site. see TOOLS page 3A

POWHATAN – How to deal with proffers – a topic that was recently taken on in the General Assembly – caused a great deal of debate at the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Monday, March 28 and split the members three-two on how to handle the issue. The board held 10 public hearings at the meeting on cases of developers requesting the amount of

money they pay in proffers to the county be reduced, often by several thousand dollars. In all 10 cases, the board voted three-two in favor of granting the applicants’ requests and lowering the amount of cash proffers they are expected to pay. Chairman Bill Melton, who represents District 4; Angie Cabell, District 3, and Carson Tucker, District 5, voted in favor of the apsee PROFFERS page 2A

E V E N T TO TA K E H A R D LO O K AT D RU G P RO B L E M By Laura McFarland News Editor

DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139

PALMORE

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OWHATAN – The organizers of an upcoming event to educate people about drug addiction in Powhatan County plan to lift the veil of secrets on a problem they believe the public has ignored long enough. “Heroes not heroin- no more secrets” will take an emotional, blunt but honest look at the effect heroin and other opioid drugs are having on the lives of Powhatan residents, including taking some of them, Cindy Harris, one of the event coordinators, said. Organizers don’t want people coming to the event and forgetting why they are there, Harris said. This will not be a benefit concert, fundraiser or event where people give a few dollars and walk away feeling good about themselves. “Powerful no-nonsense – that is what we want. No candy coating,” she said. “Heroes not heroin” will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 17 in the Village Meadow Pavilion, 3920 Marion Hardland Lane. It is free and open to the public, and people should bring their own chairs or blankets to sit on. The event was conceived after three young people with Powhatan ties between the ages of 17 and 26 died within a month of each other, she said. A committee was formed to address what has long been a problem but which carries a stigma that means people often won’t talk about it, she added. “Frankly the situation with drugs and alcohol is not anything new. It just took three deaths to come to the forefront,” she said. To that end, “Heroes not heroin” will

take a hard look at topics such as statistics, prevention, warning signs and resources, Harris said. “Really what we want this event to be is to put political correctness aside, look at the reality of where we as a county are and also look at the proportion of this as a nationwide epidemic,” she said. “We need to stop turning a blind eye, stop being unwilling to speak about it and give facts

~ IF YOU GO ~ ‘Heroes not heroin - no more secrets’ 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 17 in the Village Meadow Pavilion, 3920 Marion Hardland Lane. Free and open to the public.

and resources to deal with it so we can move forward in a positive direction.” The event will include sharing real statistics about Powhatan County’s drug problem; Jerimy Ford and Chenoa Ford telling their own stories about overcoming addiction; original songs written for the event and performed by Keybi Hernandez and Lewis Greisheimer and another song performed by Woody Woodworth, Harris said. The keynote speaker will be a representative from IWishINeverStarted.org, nonprofit initiative aimed at educating students, parents and their communities of the highly addictive nature of opiates. “We first need to inform. We need our community to understand the situation

we are in. By giving them statistics and powerful stories and inspiring stories and the reality of where we are, that is the launch to a long-term plan,” Harris said. The Goochland Powhatan Community Services Board is already working on that long-term plan, said Robin Pentecost, behavioral health and wellness supervisor. The coalition is seeking anonymous input from community members regarding substance use through a survey. This survey is an important part of the coalition’s work to design and implement prevention efforts to decrease substance use and suicide. The survey, which will be up until April 10, is at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PFKYVZ3. “It is not about what people do. It is about how they perceive these problems in their community and what needs to be done next,” Pentecost said. One goal of the survey is to understand what the pathway to heroin looks like in Powhatan County, because it is different in every community, Pentecost said. One path might have a teen trying marijuana or alcohol and gradually working toward harder substance abuse, Harris said. Another might see a middle age woman having her wisdom teeth removed, liking the euphoria of the pain medication and developing a habit from there. Understanding the cultures within the community is going to play a role in understanding those protective factors and risk factors for substance abuse that might mean the difference between someone developing a habit or not, Pentecost said. see EVENT page 10A


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